Friday, November 17, 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 12 NOV 2017

1.FIRST EVER INTERNATIONAL AYUSH CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION HELD IN
DUBAI

i. The International AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani,
Siddha and Homoeopathy) Conference and Exhibition 2017 is held in Dubai. Minister
for AYUSH Sripad Naik is on a 3-day visit to UAE to participate in the first
ever International Ayush Conference and Exhibition in Dubai.

ii. This is the first ever conglomeration of Ayurveda, Yoga and
Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy practitioners, policy makers,
industrialists, researchers and students across the world. Indian government
has committed to provide 100 non-Indian students full scholarship if they study
AYUSH in any of the public deemed universities across India.

iii. AYUSH ministry is also in touch with the UAE Ministry of
Health to set up an AYUSH chair in Dubai.

2.GADKARI ANNOUNCES RS 6000 CRORE WORLD BANK-BACKED IRRIGATION
SCHEME

i. Union minister Nitin Gadkari announced World Bank-supported Rs
6,000 cr scheme to improve the irrigation facilities and water accessibility
capacity in several states.

ii. This scheme was announced by Nitin Gadkari at the inauguration
of Agrovision Exhibition. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu was present on the
occasion. He performed e-jalpoojan of Kerala Lift Irrigation Scheme and right
bank canal of Gosikhurdh Irrigation project.

iii. The states which will benefit from the irrigation scheme are
Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya
Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

iv. Gadkari also announced Rs 25,000 cr-worth Daman Ganga-Pinjar
river connectivity project, which is 90 per cent funded by the Centre. Its
first phase will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi within the next three
months.

3.HARYANA, FIRST STATE IN INDIA TO TREAT HEPATITIS-C PATIENTS WITH
ORAL MEDICINE

i. Haryana has emerged as the first state in the country to treat
Hepatitis-C patients through oral medicine, according to the health minister
Anil Vij of the state.

ii. This medicine would be provided free of cost to permanent
residents of all categories at district level. The medicine and treatment costs
about Rs 28,000 to Rs 30,000 in the market, but the state government would
provide this facility free of cost.

4.PNB METLIFE TO SELL POLICIES TO BAHRAIN BANK CUSTOMERS

i. Private sector life insurance company PNB MetLife has entered
into a tie-up with Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait to sell retail and group
insurance products to BBK’s customers in India.

ii. As per the terms of the tie-up, PNB MetLife will offer
protection, health, savings and wealth plans to BBK’s customers in India spread
across its branches.

iii. Besides the conventional products, customised insurance plans
will also be offered to BBK customers in India. Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait has
been operating in India for over 30 years while PNB MetLife has a customer base of 93015 by September 2017.

iv. Bancassurance has been an important part of the PNB MetLife’s
growth strategy. Bancassurance is a relationship between a bank and an
insurance company wherein insurance company sells its products to the bank’s
customers and bank gets a commission in return.

5.HOME MINISTRY SETS UP TWO NEW DIVISIONS FOR RADICALIZATION &
CYBER CRIME

i. The Union Home Ministry has formed two new divisions to
exclusively deal with emerging security challenges such as radicalization and
cyber crime. The two divisions called Counter-Terrorism and
Counter-Radicalization and the Cyber and Information Security also encompass
merger of some of the Ministry’s existing divisions.

ii. The CTCR wing is basically modified version of the Home
Ministry’s internal security-II division. It will focus on tracking and
assessing the online reach of global terrorist outfits and devising strategies
to counter their propaganda.

iii. The CIS division will monitor online crimes and threats,
including cyber fraud and hacking, and suggest ways to minimize and fight them.

ii. RBI issued fresh directions on managing risks and code of
conduct in outsourcing of financial services by NBFCs. As per the notification,
access to customer information by staff of the service provider shall be on
'need to know' basis i.e., limited to those areas where the information is
required in order to perform the outsourced function.

iii. NBFCs have to ensure that service providers are able to
isolate and clearly identify the NBFC's customer information, documents,
records and assets to protect the confidentiality of the information. Any
leakage of confidential customer related information should be reported to the
central bank immediately otherwise NBFCs would be liable to its customers for
any damages.

7.RAVI BANGAR CONCURRENTLY APPOINTED AS AMBASSADOR OF INDIA TO
ECUADOR

i. Ravi Bangar was appointed as Ambassador of India to Ecuador. He
is an Indian Foreign Service Officer of
1982 batch. He is presently the Ambassador of lndia to Colombia. He has been
concurrently (at the same time) appointed as the next Ambassador of India to
Ecuador.

8.UNHCR TO GET MOTHER TERESA AWARD 2017 FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

i. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been
named as the recipient of the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice,
2017.

ii. The UNHCR provides humanitarian aid to innumerable people
internally displaced by conflicts and helping stateless people all over the
world. Harmony Foundation has instituted the only official award in memory of
Mother Teresa. Harmony Foundation's theme for 2017 is Compassion Beyond
Borders.

9.PADMA SHRI AWARDEE AUTHOR MANU SHARMA PASSES AWAY

i. Noted author and Padma Shri awardee Manu Sharma died in
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh following a prolonged illness. He was 89.

ii. He was nominated as one of the navratna of the Swachha Bharat
Abhiyan by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

10.NATIONAL EDUCATION DAY – NOVEMBER 11

i. National Education Day was observed all over India on 11th
November to mark the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first
education minister of independent India.

ii .The objective of celebrating National Education Day is to
strengthen our educational institutions and to raise the quality of education
to greater heights.

iv. On this day seminars, symposia, essay-writing, elocution
competitions, workshops and rallies with banner cards and slogans on the
importance of literacy and nation’s commitment to education are conducted.

OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. NAME THE PRIVATE
SECTOR LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY THAT HAS ENTERED INTO A TIE-UP WITH BANK OF
BAHRAINAND KUWAIT TO SELL RETAIL
AND GROUP INSURANCE PRODUCTS TO BBK’S CUSTOMERS IN INDIA?

a) Exide Life Insurance

b) Bajaj Alliance Life
Insurance

c) PNB MetLife

d) Aviva India

Q2. WHICH STATES BECOMES THE FIRST STATE TO TREAT HEPATITIS-C
PATIENTS THROUGH ORAL MEDICINE?

a) Haryana

b) Jharkhand

c) Sikkim

d) Madhya Pradesh

Q3. WHICH ORGANISATION IS SELECTED TO FOR MOTHER TERESA AWARD
2017 FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE?

a) UNICEF

b) World Vision

c) UNESCO

d) UNHCR

Q4. WHERE DID THE FIRST EVER INTERNATIONAL AYUSH CONFERENCE AND
EXHIBITION HELD AT?